Book Details:
Author: V.E. Schwab
Series: Standalone
Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Gothic, Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal, Supernatural
Page Count: 334 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published: March 1, 2022
Blurb:
Everything casts a shadow. Even the world we live in. And as with every shadow, there is a place where it must touch. A seam, where the shadow meets its source.
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.
Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?
Review:
Rating: ★★★
I came for VE Schwab's writing and I stayed till the end because of it- with Gallant, its plot and characters as ghouls who remained in the corner of my 'reader mindspace'.
As much as I love VE Schwab (and I am still gonna read her books because this woman can WRITE! so let's see how far my loyalty to her goes), I have to admit that she has very interesting ideas but when it comes to executing them, she falls short. This was the problem in DSOM & Gallant doesn't escape this problem either.
The problem with her ideas isn't her writing coz she writes beautifully but rather her exploration of the said idea- either she straight up fails to create an interesting story out of the idea or manages to explore the idea shallowly, excluding much of its potential. If anyone has any recommendations regarding books of hers that don't suffer from this problem, then please suggest freely coz I really do wanna read her books.
The pitch for Gallant is utterly compelling- A shadow/mirror world where everything is simultaneously similar and different. I love the concept of parallel universes and as I also like VE Schwab's writing, Gallant lured me like it lured the Priors into taking residence in the Gallant mansion and ultimately, it disappointed me like it destroyed the Priors.
Like the Gallant mansion is too big for the few humans living in it, this book also was too big for such a flimsy plot. There are pages upon pages of writing and while that never decreased my joy of reading, I kept wondering about when the plot would show up and it did...albeit half formed like the ghouls.
The writing is atmospheric, it calls on the reader, beckoning them towards something big, like the wall calls the Priors of Gallant to itself. While the Priors do end up going beyond the wall, it seems like I, as a reader, never even reached the peculiar shade of the wall aka the 'something big' fizzles out even before it actually materialises as so.
I am someone who enjoys the heaven out of character driven books regardless of the amount of plot in them, so the lack of substantial plot in Gallant won't have been the problem only if it had compelling characters. The only characters that interested me were Olivia's parents and I think a greater inclusion of their love story would've greatly spruced up the story. In fact, this book took me longer to read because I kept going back to the entries in the green journal- the exchanges between them, the writing and ink paintings...which were the most interesting parts of the book imo.
This book is a lower tier 3 stars for me and it being a quick read with good writing are its only merits.
P.S:- No offense intended to anyone actually surnamed Prior but the surname Prior is giving me Divergent flashbacks and not in a good way, more like- intriguing ideas, failed execution, etc
Final Thoughts:
I recommend this book albeit with some catch(es?)